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This past Sunday, as we continued our study in the book of Acts, we read Acts chapter 14. In this chapter, we saw Paul and Barnabas continuing on their journey to proclaim the gospel. When they arrived in Lystra, Paul encountered a man who had been lame all his life. As the man listened intently to Paul, it became clear to Paul that the man had the faith to be healed. When Paul instructed the man to stand up, the man arose and began to walk. The story continues in verse 11:

Acts 14:11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

What is important to note here is that these people, who were not Jews, assumed that their gods had descended to earth and appeared in human form. They referred to Barnabas as Zeus, and Paul as Hermes, because Paul did most of the talking. Contained within this portion of the story is a foundational truth – you relate only to those things with which you can identify. Since these people knew nothing of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, when they saw Barnabas and Paul they immediately identified them as two of their own gods. What is interesting to note is that Hermes was a herald for Zeus, who was the king of all of the gods. Apparently, they were able to properly discern that Paul was a herald based upon his speaking.
Why is this principle so important for us today? Because it shows us that we too will perceive God through the lens of our experience, which for each of us is a very narrow lens. While this is certainly the fault of no one, both Christ Jesus and Paul made it very clear that if we desire to experience God to a greater degree, our minds must be transformed. Christ Jesus said that a man must be “born again” just to see the kingdom of God. Additionally, Paul instructed us to be transformed from this world by the renewing of our minds. In other words, unless our minds are truly changed, we will continue to perceive God through that same lens we were taught to see him, which may very well be a very distorted lens. So what lens do we need to perceive God to a greater degree? We must have a kingdom lens. This was the only doctrine that Christ taught – the kingdom doctrine. So the principle is simple but important – the more we learn and understand about the kingdom of God, the better we can identify with it. And the more we identify with the kingdom, the better we can relate to it. Here is a simple test to measure how you relate only to that with which you can identify: if someone were to ask you to describe what the Lord Jesus may have looked like, how would you describe him?